The current release of the Enuuk
Auction Platform is a stable auction
platform, which is being used across a range of sites. The
code is well laid out and easily modified to add your own
improvements and extended features.

We have found the phpAuction support team to be
responsive and very helpful and can supplement this with our
own services in tracking down and identifying issues with PHP
and SQL as well as optimising code to ensure that the Enuuk
Auction Platform provides an excellent engine for an auction
site.

We have also developed our own custom built
modules (also known as modx) and changes, which may be of
interest to other users of Enuuk and these are set out below.
The modules can be incorporated in both the commercial and the GPL versions of the Enuuk auction platform (although some features may not be applicable to the GPL version).
We are happy to help install them on your server at an extra
charge, or provide the full details of all changes required in
order to implement them.

These modules appear on the
RWAP Enuuk
Test Site so that you can see them in action for yourself and
compare them against your own website's performance.

Please note that in order to install any of
these updates to the code yourself, you will need an
unobfuscated version of the code (ie. it is unprotected),
otherwise we can install them for you for an additional fee.

We welcome feedback on our modules and changes,
and how they may be further developed in order to continue to
increase the facilities and user friendliness of the Enuuk
platform.

Finally, we have now linked up with a website
designer who is able to provide a bespoke website design
service to provide a true professional design for your auction
website.

Bulk Upload of CSV
File

A late addition to the Enuuk auction platform
has been the ability to upload auction details in bulk. The
Enuuk auction platform currently only supports a plain text
file, with the auction fields in a fixed order and separated by
either tabs or a double hash (#) sign.

We found this too constrictive and following a
request from a trader, decided to launch this new module, which
allows you to create a CSV file containing all of the auction
details. This has two benefits:

1) You can export auctions from the eBay Turbo
Lister program and upload the exported file direct to a site
running the Enuuk auction platform.

2) As the CSV file utilises column headers to
differentiate the fields, you can now edit the auctions more
comfortably using a spreadsheet program, such as Excel.

We
recommend that you use the Enhanced Item Details and the
International Shipping Modules with this.

Bulk Upload of CSV file module v1.1 for
Enuuk - £40

Set Category Specific Fees

We have now implemented a new module which allows you to set
different fees for each category - these can be any of the
currently active fees.

You can specify whether the fee is to be inherited (the
default) - in which case, the system works its way up the
category parent tree until it finds a category with the fee set
(or ultimately, the default fee).

A useful module, which allows you to have some categories which
are cheaper to list in that others.

Change Default Language module v1.0 for
Enuuk - £150

Change Default Language

As supplied, the Enuuk auction platform, allows
you to add additional language sets to cover the use of
auctions, the website pages and emails, which makes it into a
powerful auction platform which can be easily adapted for use
in multi-national auctions.

Unfortunately, the default language remains
steadfastly as English US which means that is the standard
language used by users who do not select another default, and
by internet search engines, such as Google. We encountered an
issue with the dates which are displayed, as we are based in
the UK - we did not want to create an entire new language
folder just for UK English, and so decided the best way would
be to amend the default.

Unfortunately, the default is hard coded and so
we have identified all of the changes required throughout the
code and the SQL database engine.

The module also incorporates the necessary changes to Datepicker to ensure that the correct date is displayed when using the UK date format.

**WARNING
this may cause issues on a live site**

Change Default Language module v1.1 for
Enuuk - £10

Currency Display

As supplied, the Enuuk auction platform, shows
all currencies as the value, followed by three letters
indicating the currency type. However, in many cases, where it
is not an unusual currency, users would prefer to see the
symbol for the currency. For example, v2.00 would show 2.50
GBP as the current value of an item. Most users would prefer
to see £2.50.

This currently supports GBP, USD, CAD and
Euros, but other currencies can be added easily.

Currency Display module v1.1 for Enuuk
- £40

Edit Auction with Bids

Current versions of the Enuuk auction platform,
do not allow you to edit an auction when there are already
bids.

This module has been devised to allow you to
edit auctions, even when there are bids, although your options
are restricted. You can add to the item description, amend
pictures, and alter the reserve price (provided it has not been
reached). You can also edit the Buy It Now price if it is
still active - in both instances, you cannot reduce them to
less than the current price of the item.

All other details can be edited as if there
were no bids on the auction, as we feel that this would not
impact on a user's decision to bid.

When the auction is amended, all existing
bidders are then notified by email that the auction has
changed.

Edit Auction with Bids module v1.0 for
Enuuk - £50

Enhanced Favourites

v1.6 of the
Enuuk auction platform added the ability for users to
select favourites which can then be linked to quickly using the
link to My Favourites in the top right hand menu. You can add
webstores, users and auction listings as your favourites.

This module changes this in a couple of
ways.

Popular items are now shown on the index
page - we added a small section which calculates the top 5
(maximum) items which people have marked as favourites and
shows them on the index page, in order of popularity.

When you add an offer to your favourites, if
you are viewing the offer at the time, you are now returned to
the view offer details screen. This also similarly works for
add user / add store to favourites.

When you go to My Favourites, Enuuk lists
details of all of the offers which you have marked as favourite
plus all of the offers listed within any webstores which you
have marked as favourite, plus any auctions listed by users
that you have marked as favourite. This leads to an extensive
list of offers - although duplicates are removed, even closed
offers are included in the list.

We therefore decided to turn this around
completely.

On My Favourites page, you now get three
different headings:
- Favourite Offers (ie. just the offers which you have marked
as favourite)
- Favourite Webstores (a list of webstores which you have
marked as favourite)
- Favourite Users (a list of users which you have marked as
favourite).

Nice and simple.

Enhanced Favourites module v1.2 for
Enuuk - £35

Enhanced Image Handling

The speed of an auction site is critical and current versions
of the Enuuk auction platform can be quite slow when handling
images. Although the latest versions of Enuuk include
thumbnail generation for the main page, we have made
modifications to the code to enhance the handling of images as
follows:

Thumbnails are stored of all images - rather than relying
on the browser to resize images to the right size. This
enhances the speed of display on the index pages, category
pages, search results pages and when viewing an offer.
Enuuk stores just the original size and one fixed (188px
wide) thumbnail size.

We have also now included the ability to "square off" the
thumbnail images, so that landscape and portrait images are
both the same height (white space is added above &
below / to the sides to make the image square). This can
improve the look of your website when users are viewing
lists of items.

One thing which is prevalent on the internet, is people
using images from other websites without their permission.
We have included the ability to add a user defined text or
PNG graphic watermark to all images on your website.

Note: This module also includes code to create the relevant
images for existing auctions, so that you do not have to worry
about re-creating the auctions.

Enhanced Image Handling module v1.4 for
Enuuk - £100

Enhanced Item Details

When listing items for sale on any
Enuuk auction based site, one of the main features which is
missing is the ability to state whether an item is new, used or
refurbished.

We also wanted to ensure that if an item is
listed within a "Books" category (or sub-category), then
details of the ISBN for the book can be added (with validation
of the number).

This module adds that ability to the software
and is essential if you intend submitting details of your
auctions to Google Base.

Fixed price items lets a user search quickly when they want to
purchase one item now rather than waiting until an auction
finishes to see if they have been the highest bidder. This
therefore returns matching searches in either Fixed Price
Auctions, Lot Auctions, or where a standard auction has a Buy
It Now price available.

Scheduled Auctions lets users find out what is coming up on the
site and mark them as a favourite auction for future
reference.

Enhanced Search module v1.2 for Enuuk -
£75

Enhanced Webstores

We came across various suggestions to enhance the use of
Webstores across the Enuuk Auction Platform.

When you browse categories of auction items in the Enuuk
auction platform, it currently lists all items which are listed
within webstores and fall within that category at the bottom of
the page. This can lead to a long list of items if you are not
careful.

We have changed the whole focus of this:

When viewing a category, instead of a list of items to be
found in webstores at the bottom of the category listing
page, you now see a list of webstores which have items in
that category, with the total number of items. Click on
the webstore to find details of the items on offer.

Webstores are actually linked directly to a category -
this enables the webstore to be listed when browsing the
category, even if it has no items for sale!

When you click on a webstore link, it automatically lists
only the webstore's offers within that category (previously
it went back to All Categories)

Previously, if none of the webstores have any items
listed within them, then the webstores tab disappears from
the auction website. We found a need to have this always
present - particularly as search engines could take users
to a section of the website which could not be reached by
any other means.

Optionally, you can now earn income from your website
through the addition of an eBay webstore which has a
definable keyword for each category which is then used to
populate the eBay webstore - this allows visitors to your
website to check for similar items and compare costs on
eBay, and if you are signed up to the eBay Affiliate
Network, you can earn commission if they click through to
eBay and purchase any items. NOTE that the eBay webstore is
owned by the site administrator.

A further option is to allow two types of webstores, such
as a
free webstore, where the webstore owners pay normal fees on
the site, or a monthly subscription webstore, where for £5
per month, the webstore owner gets a 50% discount on all
fees (these figures can of course be adopted for your own
site).

The webstores can have a user definable number of items
shown in a paginated list and the listings also include a
picture of the item

Add Enhanced Webstores module v1.1 for
Enuuk - £100

Additional eBay Webstore Module - £100

Two Webstore Types (Chargeable and
Free) Module - £50

Improved Logon

Various actions on the Enuuk auction site platform, check whether you are logged in before you can perform the action. Once you do log on, you are then re-directed to your user profile.

We have changed this default behaviour, so that you are returned to the page you were originally heading for (such as the place a bid page)

Add Improved Logon module v1.0
for Enuuk - £20

Improved Pending Offers

If you create an auction with a start date in
the future, in the current versions of the Enuuk Auction
Platform, you can only find them in your profile under Closed
Offers.

This module creates a new section in your user
profile for Pending Offers, where all auctions with a start
date sometime in the future are found. You can also activate
them early if you so wish without having to edit the auction.
This can also be useful for the Enhanced Search Module.

v1.2 also now incorporates enhancements in the
admin backend, so that you can view auctions by reference to
closed, active, inactive and sold. It also details the number
of active (or sold) items when it is a lot auction.

Add Pending Offers module v1.2 for
Enuuk - £20

Improved Speed and Reduced
Server Load

By a close examination of the Enuuk code, and
profiling the code, we have found numerous ways in which the
code can be improved to make massive speed gains and reduce the
load on your server (on one site with over 3,000 listings, we
reduced the time taken to calculate one page from over 15
seconds to around 1.5 seconds).

This module complements the Enhanced Image
Handling Module and both are advised to get the most from an Enuuk
based auction website.

The module includes completely re-written
classes and can support memcached if you have this available on
your server.

Add Improved Speed module v2.0 for
Enuuk - £150

International
Shipping

In current versions of the
Enuuk auction platform, although you can select different
shipping methods in the admin backend, the buyer of an item,
sees all shipping methods chosen by the seller, even if they
are not applicable to goods sent to them (eg. for overseas
buyers). Also, although there is a tick box to indicate if you
are willing to ship items internationally, there is currently
no ability to charge different rates dependent on
destination.

We have therefore created this module which
allows the admin backend to set up postal regions, and decide
which countries appear in each postal region. Different
shipping methods can then be created in the admin backend for
each postal region - you can also mark some shipping methods
(such as collection) as free methods.

When a seller creates a listing for sale, they can select
which postal regions they are willing to ship to, and then
select which of the shipping methods applicable to that region
that they will offer, plus setting shipping rates for each
method.

If a free method is chosen, the seller is no longer required
to enter a value.

If the seller is listing a Lot Auction, the seller is then
asked to enter a further amount to be added for shipping of
additional items (ie. if the buyer purchases 2 of the same
item).

When viewing an item, the buyer only sees the shipping
methods and prices set by the seller, which are applicable to
the buyer's country. If the seller has chosen not to ship to
that postal region, then the buyer cannot bid (and a warning is
displayed).

Having purchased an item, the buyer can then
select which shipping method for their region that they wish
the seller to use, and the prices are adjusted accordingly,
before payment is made.

International Shipping module v2.0 for
Enuuk - £150

Maximum Bid Module

This Module improves the way in which a user
can increase their maximum bid against an item.

In current versions of the Enuuk auction
platform, the user sees no difference to an items listing, even
if they are the highest bidder.

The Maximum Bid module implements various
changes:

If a user enters a maximum bid which is less than the
reserve price, the current price of the item is increased
to their maximum bid (under Enuuk, it remains on the
minimum bid)

If a user is the highest bidder, this is made clearer on
the item details screen, and they are invited to increase
the amount of their maximum bid.

The seller can always see how much the reserve price is
set at.

Maximum Bid module v1.0 for Enuuk -
£50

Sell Item In This Category

We found that sellers tend to browse categories
before listing an item in order to check what items are already
being offered and also to choose which is the best category to
use for their auction listing.

We therefore created this mod, which adds a
link to "Sell an Item in this Category" below the breadcrumb
trail. It takes you straight to the sell item form, with the
category already chosen.

Sell Item in this Category module v1.1
for Enuuk - £10

Send an Email to Users as an
Auction Nears the End

This useful module sends two emails as an
auction nears the end time. You can set the period for each of
the two emails to be sent (in hours) in the admin backend.

The emails are:
a) Emails to users watching item - ie. everyone who has added
the item to their favourites
b) Emails to users who have bid on the item.

We find that this has helped to encourage users
to return to the site and place more bids.

Email on Auction Ending Module v1.0 for
Enuuk - £50

SEO Improvements

This includes some minor improvements to the
Enuuk auction platform in order to provide Search Engine
Optimisation as well as the following new features:

A sitemap is also automatically generated to submit
changes to TheFind, Google, Yahoo and Bing.

A feed is also provided to Twitter (if required)
providing a running tweet of each new auction.

NOTE: Google
Base is a new means of searching the internet for items to
purchase. With our automated submission module, you can add
this feature to the Enuuk auction platform, ensuring that your
new items are listed on the Google Base search engine for the
time that they are live auctions.

If you wish auction
items to be submitted to Google Base, you will need the Item Details module and also the Simple Payments Module for this to be
accepted by Google Base. You will also need to open your own
Google Base account and to ensure that your auctions meet with
the terms and conditions of Google Base. The same Google Base
feed can also be submitted to Yahoo Site Explorer.

Add SEO Improvements module v1.1 for
Enuuk - £100

Set Maximum Auction Duration

The Enuuk platform allows users to set the duration of an auction as a set number of days, hours or minutes.

We have created this module which allows the admin to set a maximum duration for each auction type, and then ensures that the user does not exceed that duration.

This can be especially important if you use the SEO Enhancements Module, as Google Base and similar do not allow you to submit fixed price listings which have a duration in excess of 30 days.

Set Maximum Auction Duration v1.0 for Enuuk -
£50

Simple Payments Module

One thing we found confusing with the
Enuuk auction platform is that having purchased fixed price
items, you have to go to My Profile and Auctions You have Won
in order to actually pay for an item.

We have created this module which adds an extra
page once you confirm that you wish to purchase a fixed price
item (or part of a lot auction), confirming the item you have
purchased and providing you with PayPal and Google Checkout
buttons to enable you to pay for the item (provided the seller
has activated these options).

Show Online Users

This module has been devised to help encourage
interaction between users.

The header now shows the number of visitors online at any
given time.

When viewing an item, you can now see an icon which shows
whether the seller is online - useful if you want a quick
answer to a question

You can also see the icon to indicate whether a user is
online when viewing their profile, or looking at your
messages received, or reading a message from another
user.

Admins can actually view the list of users and see which ones are online.

Show Online Users module v1.0 for Enuuk
- £50

Vehicle Reports

When selling vehicles over the internet, the
purchasers want as much information as possible about the
history and condition of a Vehicle.

This module adds the ability to create a
vehicle report for each item listed within selected
categories.

The Vehicle Report includes all elements
required for a Disclosure Declaration Statement (under Canadian
law - MDA 2002), as well as details of the bodywork, internal
and external options, odometer reading, engine type, condition
of each section of the car and mechanical defects and much
more.

Vehicle Reports module v1.0 for Enuuk -
£100

Wiki Content for Category

One of the problems with any auction website is
in attracting sufficient people to the website to ensure that
sellers can find enough people interested in bidding, and
conversely, bidders can find enough items to purchase.

We thought the best way of doing this was to
incorporate a wiki, which can be displayed for each category
listing, so that you can provide more information on the types
of auction items which can be found on the website. This
modification to the
Enuuk auction platform provides the ability for the
administrator to create wiki text for each category from the
admin backend - the administrator can then decide whether the
Wiki is editable - we decided to restrict editing to webstore
owners, as we felt that they would be the best ones to provide
the content.

As with all of Enuuk, the wiki can be created
in each language supported on your website.